Different types of data such as characters, tables, and images require different structures which define the data and different editing operations for the data. Various application programs are provided in accordance with the type of data. The user uses different applications for different types of data: a character processing program in order to edit characters, a spreadsheet program in order to edit tables, and an image editing program in order to edit images.
In this way, the user generally uses different application programs for different types of data. In general, a document to be created by the user is made up of a plurality of types of data such as characters and tables, or characters and images, rather than a document formed from only one type of data such as characters, tables, or images. To create a document containing a plurality of types of data, the user must use the printing functions of various applications to print data corresponding to the respective applications, read the printed materials by a scanner or the like, and combine them in a desired order.
Some programs such as so-called “Office Suite” which forms one integrated application from various applications provide a function of combining data generated by respective applications into one document. The use of the integrated application allows the user to combine data created by respective applications into one target document by using a specific application included in the integrated application.
When a print instruction for a document created in this way is issued from an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, various print formats can be set for the document, and the user can print it with a high degree of freedom. For a document to be printed which includes chapters and pages, an exceptional print format different from the print format of the document can be set for the chapters or pages, realizing print format setting with a higher degree of freedom.
However, to assign page numbers to pages when the user creates one target document by combining print materials generated by various applications, he/she must print out all necessary data, combine them into a document, and determine page numbers. Each application must write determined page numbers on respective pages (to be referred to as logical pages or original pages) of an original created by the application.
Even if the application program has a function of assigning page numbers, the page numbers of discontinuous pages must be designated by the user. If the pages of the document are rearranged, page numbers must be reassigned in accordance with the rearrangement. Data must also be edited and printed again by an application when not data contents but merely the print format is changed such that a plurality of original pages are combined into one page (to be referred to as a physical page or print page) as a print material, or single-sided printing is changed to double-sided printing.
Since an application which can manage data forming one document changes depending on the type of data, the user must manually interface between applications in processing the document. This means that much labor is demanded of the user, decreasing the productivity. The many manual operations readily generate errors.
The use of an integrated application for creating a document enables arranging various data in the data state without printing them out. No heavy labor is required from the user in comparison with creation of a target document by combining printed materials. However, applications for editing and creating various data are restricted to ones included in the integrated application, so a user-desired application may not be exploited.
A document created by the integrated application is one document file, and management such as editing and output of the document is done for each document file. The application function poses many constraints on setting the format of part of the document file. For example, the user must change format settings at each portion where the format is changed, and print a target page again. This leads to much labor and low productivity, similar to the above-mentioned method.
In the conventional exceptional print format setting method, the print format can be exceptionally designated for each chapter or page. According to this conventional method, however, minor exceptional setting (zoom of each page, designation of the angle, designation of the layout position of each chapter, or the like) requires setting all attributes including the exceptional setting again. If the settings of the entire document accidentally coincide with settings exceptionally set for each chapter or page, it is difficult to determine whether to make the settings of each chapter or page coincide with those of the entire document or to leave the settings of each chapter or page as exceptional settings. In addition, settings are not unique to each chapter or page when the settings of the chapter or page are made to coincide with those of the entire document.
To display a document structure on a document information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, tree view display which hierarchically displays the document structure is generally adopted. For example, when a document is made up of chapters and pages, a plurality of chapters included in the document are displayed immediately below the document, and pages included in each chapter are hierarchically displayed immediately below the chapter. The document, chapters, and pages are displayed by different icons, providing an easy-to-see hierarchical structure. When a document is formed from a plurality of captions and their descriptions, these captions are grouped and hierarchically expressed.
The conventional tree view display employs a method of sectioning documents in document, chapter, and page units, and associating information between the respective units. This tree view display does not consider an expression method when related information is cut between documents, chapters, or pages. The related information in these units includes print information, page layout information, and header/footer information. For example, when print information, page layout, header/footer information, and the like are commonly applied to the entire document, the document can be expressed by tree view display without cutting the pieces of related information in the above units. However, when print information, page layout information, header/footer information, and the like cannot be commonly applied to documents, chapters, and pages, the pieces of information cannot be associated with each other between the units. This poses a problem in the conventional tree view display method.